54 Bible Verses about Self Denial

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

Have you found honey? Eat only what you need,
That you not have it in excess and vomit it.

But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,

But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever.

I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.”

Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.”

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.

When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

“Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap;

But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.

Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know.

do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!”

It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.

Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.

Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.

He must increase, but I must decrease.